It being New Year's Eve, it would be downright dastardly of me to turn the page on 2009 without expressing bright expectations for 2010.

But the best I can come up with is, I hope next year won't be worse than this one.

On paper, that shouldn't be hard to achieve. Then again, this time 365 days ago, who would have thought that within a few months, I would be diagnosed with leukemia and the company that owns my newspaper would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy? In short, we can't be sure what's around the next corner, can we?

Fortunately, after six months of treatment, the illness seems to be under control and my prognosis is favorable. As for the newspaper's parent company, it emerged from bankruptcy relatively quickly. So on both fronts, it says here 2010 will be an improvement.

Not that 2009 was all bad. My younger son was married and his TV writing career thrived. My older son continued to be the perfect dad for our beautiful granddaughter. Both of our daughters-in-law are gems. And, oh yeah, my wife of 38 years continues to put up with me. None of that is small stuff.

Thus, I move on to 2010 with a measure of optimism, thankful for all the good in our lives.

Happy New Year!